That day on the street, did I kill them? Have I seen any of those guards since? No, he wouldn’t have let something like that go; he would have had to tell my family if I killed his friends.
“What’s the point of having a house if you’re never in it?” Rickon snaps, looking ten shades of pissed off.
He rises to his full height at the sight of us and I feel all of the levity Lucien found earlier today fading away in an instant like it never existed at all. I swallow, trying my best not to look intimidated. Atlas is right, I can’t just let myself be a victim forever. Something has to change. I don’t know what and I don’t know how, but I want better.
I don’t want to live like this anymore.
The guys have shown me what life could be like. It’s a blessing and a curse because, while they make me feel honestly wanted for the first time in my life, it’s made me painfully aware of how horrible my life truly is. I don’t know how to escape it, and the last thing I want to do is drag them down with me.
They’re willing to fight for a girl that they’re only starting to know, to fight for each other. I’m willing to do whatever I can to protect them, yet I’m not willing to fight for myself? When these three humans are?
I want to be better than that, better than I’ve had to be until now. I want to give them a reason to look at me with something other than pity in their eyes.
“I’m not on house arrest, Dickoff. Now, what do you want?”
He looks at me appreciatively, ignoring Atlas’ warning growl. Eventually he scoffs, strutting towards me and I bristle. He narrows his eyes and holds a hand out expectantly.
“Tether check,” he states. “Make sure you haven’t tampered with them.”
I hesitantly step closer, nerves making my stomach flip as he inspects one hand and then the other. When he puts a hand on the collar of my shirt, I have to verbally remind Atlas to calm down. Rickon traces over the curves of the mark on my chest with his finger nail and when he gets to the center, digs in enough to draw blood and make it sting.
I hiss, stepping back. “Happy? I’m doing everything I’m supposed to.”
He licks the blood off of his nail like the twisted bastard he is. “If you have that much free time, you should spend it in the human hellhole instead. You’d think you’d know better than to hang around when you’re not wanted, little Lark.” He starts to walk away, turning to bark over his shoulder. “You shouldn’t be here, Cambria. I look forward to the three days I don’t have to look at you.” Then he leaves, without any confrontation or more hostility.
“Isn’t he a ray of damn sunshine?” Dorian drawls, unlocking the door.
Lucien puts a hand on my lower back to urge me inside. “Don’t listen to him, Cambria.”
Atlas notes the blood on my shirt, cursing a string of profanities in Rickon’s name. I actually smile, still unused to anyone being upset on my behalf.
We head inside and strip off our wet clothes, getting ready for bed now that it’s already close to dawn. “He’s right to a degree, it’s okay. I’m looking forward to going home.” I crawl into bed and am promptly pulled on top of Dorian to make room in the cramped space for the other two. “Hey, maybe I wanted the mattress today. Atlas, you sleep on top of Dorian instead and give me your spot.”
He snorts. “Yeah, fat chance of that, beautiful. Before we head out later, no more putting it off; we’re getting a bigger bed for this place.”
“And Dorian gets the pleasure of buying,” Lucien points out, throwing an arm over his eyes.
The poor man sighs beneath me. “At least today wasn’t a total wash.”
“Why do you say that?” Atlas asks, sounding half asleep already.
I lay my head on his chest and close my eyes, completely exhausted.
“Because I get to use a hot chick as a blanket while you two are stuck with each other,” he jabs and wraps an arm around my waist.
Smiling, I nuzzle into him. Yeah, there are plenty of things that need to change, but this isn’t one of them. Robbing these three was the best choice I’ve made thus far.
